Takeshi's Castle
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Takeshi's Castle (風雲！たけし城 Fūun! Takeshi-jō, literally Turbulence! Takeshi Castle) was a Japanese game show that aired from 1986 to 1989 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It featured the Japanese actor Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) as a count who owns a castle and sets up impossible challenges for players (or a volunteer army) to get to him. The show has become a cult television hit around the world.[1] A special live "revival" was broadcast on April 2, 2005, for TBS's 50th anniversary celebrations.
[edit] Original Takeshi's Castle
The original show involved between 100 and 142 contestants whom General Lee (Hayato Tani) "forced" into a series of silly physical challenges, eliminating many of the contestants. Each show finished with a "Final Showdown" in which Count Takeshi (Kitano) was faced by the remaining contestants. If the contestants hit the paper ring on Takeshi's cart with their water guns and penetrated it (in later episodes replaced with lasers and a light-sensitive target), Takeshi's cart was deactivated, the castle was "taken" and the game "won". The player who stopped Takeshi won one million yen (which, at the time, was roughly equivalent to $8,000 US or £5,000 sterling).
Takeshi originally wanted the show to be a 'live-action Super Mario game'. Early in the series the games and production values were low budget, but later series featured extensive landscaping of a fixed campus at TBS-owned Midoriyama (Green Mountain) Studios that included large man-made lakes and extensive permanent obstacles in Yokohama, Japan. Takeshi decided the show should end while still at the height of popularity, which in Japanese television is common. October 18, 1990 was the Final Episode of Takeshi's Castle.
Each episode was filmed over the entire length of the day, with some challenges going well into the night.
[edit] Challenges
[edit] Music
Takeshi's Castle challenges used a wide variety of songs from Movies, Television Shows, Video Games, Anime, and so many other original sources. Most of the Songs used as background music for games are known, however a few are unknown below is a link to all of the games and their known BGMS.
[edit] Characters
- Count "Beat" Takeshi (ビートたけし; Kitano, born 18 January 1947) — The lord of the castle and eventual target of the competition. He also made commentary on the contestants. Known as Vic Romano on the American version, MXC. See below for all references to that program.
- Takeshi Doll — During a prolonged period when Takeshi was forbidden to appear on television (his "punishment" for an act of violence against reporters and photos from a scandal magazine), one of the Emerald Guards filled in by wearing his robe and a giant papier-mâché Takeshi head similar to the ones sports team mascots use over their heads. Known as Mini-takeshi in Spain and Mashiro Tamiji the Big-Head in Italy. On MXC he was the uncool, not-so-hip Vic Romano and Zeppo the Waterhead.
- Saburo Ishikura (石倉三郎, born 16 December 1946) — First advisor (or councillor) of Takeshi. Discussed the competition with Takeshi and provided comedy skits as well. He was shown on MXC as a teacher showing Vic (Takeshi) how to be a lumberjack. Known as 'el primo Mario' (Mario, Takeshi's cousin) in Spain.
- Sonomanma Higashi (real name Hideo Higashikokubaru, born 16 September 1957) — Originally leader of the Emerald Guards, he replaced Ishikura as Takeshi's advisor in the middle of the series run. Known as Kenny Blankenship on MXC. Known as Junior in Spain. He can be seen on the British version on the guards special.
- Takeshi's Gundan (Defense Troops) (たけし軍団) — The Count's guards who wore white or emerald green, seen in "Final Showdown" and other challenges, and are more popularly known as "The Emerald Guards". When Higashi became Takeshi's new advisor, Omori Utaeman took over as the leader. Other members included Matsuo Bannai, Tsunami Edamame, Yurei Yanagi (known as Joker in the UK version), Rakkyo Ide, Great Gidayu (known as Purple Ronnie or Putrid Porker who play Sumo Rings in the UK version), Danken, Third Nagasima, "Rusher" Itamae, Taka Gadarukanaru, Hakase Suidobashi, Sintaru Mizushima and "Loyal" Tadajij Kikuchi. Rakkyo Ide was the bald guy in the "Monsters Special" who wore a shark outfit and suffered some serious bleeding when he fell in during Skipping Stones. These troops were also usually seen in the background behind Takeshi and his advisor during the show. In MXC, they are known as teamsters, game testers, Department of Education playground monitors, and flunkies, among others. They are known as Los esbirros de Takeshi (Takeshi's henchmen) in Spain.
- General Lee (Hayato Tani) (谷隼人, born 9 September 1946) — Led the contestants through the challenges set by Count Takeshi. (Was known to speak English on occasion), Captain Tenneal in the US (a play on the 1970s husband/wife soft rock duo Captain and Tennille), Napoleon in the Spanish, Generale Putzerstofen in the Italian and General Lee in the UK version (a play on the car of the same name). In the India version, Javed Jaffrey jokingly calls him sometimes Gajodhar Pandai. His real-life wife, Kikko Matsuoka (born 11 February 1947), appeared in an episode resulting in a comedic conflict between the couple. He is also affectionately known as the "ladies' favourite" or "the man with the tan" by Craig Charles in the UK version.
- Lee's Assistant - On international specials (involving non-Japanese players), General Tani was assisted by a lady who served as his translator whose name is unknown. On the UK version, she is referred to as Corporal "Psycho" Kirsty. On MXC she was called Pey'oncé (taken from the pop-star, Beyoncé Knowles).
- Junji Inagawa (also known as Jyunji Inagawa) (稲川淳二, born 9 September 1946), Akira Sakamoto (born 31 July 1949) and Shingo Yanagisawa (柳沢慎吾, born 6 March 1962) — Three of the Battlefield Reporters, however there were many more. They usually wore safari outfits. Known as Guy LeDouche and his assorted cousins on MXC and as Pepe Livingstone in the new Spanish version. (Note: Whilst they were seen in the UK version of the series, they were not actually acknowledged, except once when Craig commented on the size of the reporter's microphone by telling him to "Put the toffee-apple away and help him!")
- Kibaji Tankobo (丹古母鬼馬二, born 4 January 1950) and Shozo "Strong" Kobayashi (ストロング金剛, born 25 December 1940) — A pair of guards who would probably scare you off just by looking at them, which they normally did to contestants in the Honey Comb Maze and other games. Kibaji usually wore a long red wig, while Strong was bald, and they painted their faces to further intimidate contestants. Tankobo and Kobayashi were considered to be two of the finest henchmen Takeshi had. They're known as Paco Peluca/Franky Wig/Kibaji and Juanito Calvicie/Johnny Baldness/Strong in the Spanish version. Also known in the UK as "Tina Turner" and "Baldy" respectively.
- Brad Lesley, aka "Animal" (亜仁丸レスリー, born 11 September 1958) — Famous Japanese/American baseball player. His main job was to humiliate and frighten the contestants in any possible way, usually dressed as a samurai complete with a sword. Animal has also been seen in a green sumo suit, spider costume, Fred Flintstone–style outfit, a baseball uniform and a Las Vegas–era Elvis Presley jumpsuit costume. In MXC during the Circle Jerkers game he is known as the Green Tea Bagger, because he picks up contestants, flips them over his back and sits on their heads. He's been known as El malvado occidental or "The Evil Westerner" in the old Spanish version; in the current one, he's known as Animal too. In the German version, his name is misromanized as "Animal Resry".
- Michiru Jo (城みちる, born 18 November 1957) — One of the few guards to have been involved from the very first episode and be involved until the show finished, he normally wore a distinctive pink outfit. Jo was a famous Japanese pop singer in the 1970s. Known as Danny Glands in the US(a play on words of long-time Las Vegas entertainer Danny Gans), Jimmy Junk, Golden Shower Boy or Barry Sosa (a play on baseball players Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa) on MXC, and as Pinky Winky (in the UK, a pun in his pink coloured clothes, and Tinky Winky the Teletubbie) in the newest Spanish version. In the Indian version aired on pogo, he is commonly called as Chooslee by Javed Jaffery.
- Yoroi/Ritter Chuu — He stood almost sixteen feet tall and tried to keep players from reaching the goals in several games. Known as the Boxing Beast in the UK version. On MXC, his name is Skanky. Known as El Pequeño Samurai (The Little Samurai) in Spain.
- Makoto Dainenji (大念寺誠) and Katsuo Tokashiki (渡嘉敷勝男, born 27 July 1960) — Makoto, a karate master, and Katsuo, a boxing champion in Japan, were the Final Fall guards, usually wearing outrageous costumes. They were called The Pink Panzers in the UK version of the show. Katsuo also served as the referee in the Sumo Rings game. In MXC they have only been seen in small sketches, once as the New Jersian Kenny and Vic. A Dainenji head costume appeared in one episode during the Sumo game; on an episode of MXC it was called "The Engorged Head".
- Masanori Okada (岡田正典, born 19 October 1953) — Usually seen in the game "Slip Way", he would jump out of the water to push the contestants into the drink if they failed to reach the target. Okada has also played in the Honey Comb Maze and other games as well. Also known as the "Sea Goblin" in Japan and was a boxer in the 1970s. On MXC he is known as Mr. G-Spot, Dr. Bill (a spoof on Dr. Phil), Bill Veto (a play on ESPN hockey commentator Bill Pidto), or The Diddler. Known as El Monstruo de la Laguna Sucia (The Monster of the Dirty Lagoon) in Spain.In Indian version,he is known as Shaitan Mamu.
- Umanosuke Ueda, (上田馬之助, born 20 June 1940) — This aggressive guard, a former wrestler in real life, has been seen in Honey Comb Maze, Square Maze, Sumo Rings, Grid Iron and Bridge Ball. He is Blondie in the UK version and El Rubio de bote (Dyed Blonde) in Spain.
- Yousichi Shimada (島田洋七, born 10 February 1950) — A guard that was usually seen in the games Blueberry Hill in overalls akin to those worn by Dennis the Menace (his UK nickname), and in Wipe Out dressed up as a female Native American nicknamed "Pocahontas" who would push people into the water if they missed the surfboard. The latter is known as Chief Otto Parts on MXC (a parody of the Chief Auto Parts auto supply store chain). Known as La India (the Indian Girl) in Spain.
- Shoji Kinoshita and Shoichi Kinoshita — Better known as "Popcorn" (ポップコーン, born 1 January 1959), these well-known identical twin actors in Japan were commonly seen wearing rainbow ponchos and bowler hats. They have also worn baseball uniforms and other humorous costumes, appearing in the game Rice Bowl Down Hill where they would try and put the contestants off by singing a very annoying chant, 'unda unda unda' as well as Bridge Ball and other games. Called Bud and Pud or Em on Em (a spoof of rapper Eminem), among others, on MXC. They're known in Spain as Duo pirata (Pirate duet). Craig Charles calls them "the Japanese Thompson Twins" or most commonly the "Rainbow Warriors".In India, they are known as Changu-Mangu.
- "Ordinary" Oki Bondo (大木凡人, born 1 July 1949), Takayuki Yokomizo, Nobuo Yana and Koji Sekiyama — They participated in the Karaoke game. Oki acted as the emcee, Takayuki was the bouncer who ejected contestants who did not sing well, and Koji was the owner of the karaoke bar, later replaced by Nobuo who appeared in the later episodes of the show. In the MXC spoof, titled Elimination Idol, Bondo plays Ryan Seachest, Takayuki is Andy Jackson and both Nobuo and Koji are called Simon Bowel, all of course playing off American Idol regulars Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.
- Shinoburyo (忍竜) — Sumo wrestler in Japan who appeared in the game Sumo Rings during the series. On MXC he was one of the two Purple Packages. Called the Purple Porker in the UK version and La Señora (the Lady) in the Spanish version, because of his make-up face.
- Large Fuji (born 26 August 1958) — Replaced Shinoburyo in the later episodes as the purple sumo fighter in Sumo Rings. On MXC he was one of the two Purple Packages.
- Konishiki Doll — Only seen in Sumo Rings and on an odd occasion of Tug of War. The Konishiki Doll was one of the Defence Troops dressed in a large costume (often credited as a potato suit in the UK version) which is meant to resemble Konishiki Yasokichi, one of the largest sumo wrestlers to ever live. Known as Spud in the UK and as Mel Anoma on MXC. Known as El Grano de Café Gigante (Giant Coffee Grain) in Spain.
- Noboru "Shin" Suganuma (すがぬま伸, born 5 July 1952) — Loyal member of Takeshi's Gundan, whom wore red and who was a pathetic sumo wrestler in Sumo Rings. He is known in Spain as el primo triste de Harry Potter (Harry Potter's sad cousin).
- Ritsuko Nakayama — Also known as Refreshing Ritsuko-Ritsuko, she is a professional bowler in Japan who has appeared in the Star Bowling game. She appeared on an MXC episode as "Viva Longoria". Called "Mother Lee" in the UK.
- Yutaka Enatsu — This Japanese baseball player who was the pie thrower in Die or Pie in a single episode. In the MXC "Master Debaters" special, he was renamed Nader O'Reilly, a fusing of the last names of multiple-time United States Presidential candidate and consumer activist Ralph Nader and TV political commentator Bill O'Reilly and also a pun on M*A*S*H character Radar O'Reilly.
- Koji Sekiyama (関山耕司 born 22 May 1929) — Karaoke bar owner who decided whether contestants singing was good enough to progress through to the next round. Later replaced by Nobuo Yana.
- Nobuo Yana (born 13 August 1935) — Replaced Koji Sekiyama as the karaoke bar owner later in the series and decided whether a contestant had sung well enough to progress through to the next round.
- Yakayuki Yokomizo (born 2 August 1963) — Bouncer in the karaoke bar who violently withdrew contestants from the building if Sekiyama (later Yana) decided that their singing wasn't good enough.
- Geisha Girls or Bunny Girls — Led by Miyuki Ono, they helped contestants in several games and also helped Takeshi and his advisor in comedy skits. The others were Harumi Tomikawa, Mika, Mina Morishima, Sawada, and Mitsumi Yokota. Sometimes, when Junji and Shingo were off the show for other commitments, one of them served in the Battlefield Reporter's role. They can be seen in a special of the UK version in Turtle Hurtle.
- Shizuo Miyauchi (宮内鎮雄, born 24 January 1945) — Commentator for the original series in Japan. Retired from TBS in 2005 after working as a commentator for several decades. His voice could sometimes be heard in the UK Series due to the fact that the original audio could be heard under Craig Charles' commentary, however in MXC he was not heard at all.
- Ultraman - Has appeared in the show on three occasions, the first was to help the kids through a number of the challenges in the "Kids Only" special, the second was as a replacement for General Lee, when he was "kidnapped", according to UK Commentator Craig Charles. The third occasion was in the monster's special, along with other members of the "Ultra Brothers". (Due to an ongoing licensing dispute, "The Monster Special" was heavily edited upon its release on DVD, with all Ultraman characters removed.)
[edit] Character counterparts
| Japanese Version (Takeshi's Castle) |
American Version (MXC) |
Philippine Version (Takeshi's Castle) |
UK version (Takeshi's Castle) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count 'Beat' Takeshi\ Takeshi Doll | Vic Romano | Master Takeshi | Count Takeshi |
| Sonomanma Higashi | Kenny Blankenship | Bisita I | |
| General Tani | Captain Tenneal | Master Kapitan | General Lee |
| Junji Inagawa | Guy LeDouche | The Man with the Toffee Apple | |
| Micharo Jo | Danny Glans | Captain Japan\Cowardly Custard | |
| Popcorn | Em on Em | The Rainbow Warriors | |
| Tani's Assistant | Pey'once | Bisita II | Corporal Kirsty |
| Yoroi | Skanky/Fisty | Boy Kamao | Boxing Monster |
| Youshi Shimada | Chief Otto Parts | Boy Tulak | Dennis The Menace |
| Oki Bondo | Ryan Seachest |
[edit] International versions
[edit] Arab countries
Arab League — In Arab countries the show was called The Fort (Arabic: الحصن). It aired in the mid to late eighties (UAE) where it became a cult hit. Commentary was provided by Lebanese actor Ryadh Shararah (رياض شرارة), then later on by Jemaal Reyaan (جمال ريان), who is currently a well known news broadcaster in Al Jazeera's Arabic TV news channel.
[edit] Australia
Australia — A version of the show was produced by The Comedy Channel, it had hosts in The Comedy Channel studio, it was redubbed, but unlike the American version it still kept to the real plot of the episode and showed the final challenge, rather than taking random footage and making up "teams". This has since been cancelled and/or finished. The show was hosted by two housemates from series two of Australian Big Brother Shannon Cleary and Nathan Morris. It also featured a crossdressing Geisha girl named Beryl. Some episodes featured a special guest third host, including Greg Fleet. Highlights appeared in Australia on the television program World's Weirdest TV. Currently, the American version "MXC" airs on Channel [V] (an Australian cable music network). The Australian writer and critic Clive James was once a celebrity contestant on the original show.
[edit] Brazil
Brazil — During the 1990s, a version was aired by Rede Globo, called Olimpíadas do Faustão (Portuguese for "Faustão's Olympics"). In 1994, rival SBT copied that version, and a legal action by Globo and SBT stopped the broadcasting. [1] In June 1 2008, SBT Keshi remake reappeared on TV, now licensed, remaking Faustão's known games (as Bridge Ball and The Run Way), not-seen in Globo games (as Skittles and Ride the Wave), and original games (cross a balance beam after spin, or cross a small bridge using a crank-kart). The games are a segment named "Playtime" in the "Programa Silvio Santos".
[edit] Czech Republic
Czech Republic — It was shown by the name Takešiho hrad (Czech), with comedic voice-over by two famous Czech comedians. The show was popular among young viewers.
[edit] Denmark
Denmark — The Danish TV station TV 2 Zulu bought the rights to air the Challenge version in Denmark, thus making the Danish broadcast identical to that in Britain.
[edit] Finland
Finland — In January 7, 2008, the television channel JIM started airing the UK version of the program. The comments are subtitled in Finnish. The show is titled Hullut japanilaiset, which translates as "The Crazy Japanese".
[edit] France
France — A shortened version given a comedic voiceover by comedians Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine has been shown on the W9 TV channel since October 2006, in a program called "Menu W9" (which also presented a shortened version of Sushi TV on its first season, now replaced by Sasuke). It has been also broadcasted on the channel M6 which shown 2 episodes per day at 6.50 p.m from Tuesday to Friday. The voices were those of the sport presenter Thierry Roland and Moon Dailly.
[edit] Germany
Germany — A dubbed version of the show aired on DSF in 1999. This version is now available on a DVD box set with 12 selected episodes, and two more volumes were planned to be released but were presumably canceled. Only one box was released with 12 episodes. A German dubbed version of the 2002 UK edit airs from July 3, 2007 on RTL II. There also exists an adaptation called Entern oder Kentern (engl.: Board or Capsize) with almost the same games but pirates as antagonists and celebrities as Team Captains. This version was aired on RTL in summer 2007.
[edit] Greece
Greece — A version airs on Skai TV by the name "το κάστρο του Τακέσι". It has been dubbed by Kostas Papageorgiou and Akindynos Gikas.
[edit] India
India — A shortened version of the show is aired on the Pogo TV channel, with Hindi voiceover by famous actor, comedian and dancer Javed Jaffrey. Jaffrey adds humour often by mocking the Japanese origins of the show. It has become very popular in India, being shown at least twice a day and having marathons for 2 hours on Sundays. The program is still running successfully as of May 2009 on POGO TV. The show was earlier voiced by Indian comedians Raju Srivastava, Sunil Pal, Navin Prabakar and Ahsaan Qureshi.
[edit] Indonesia
Indonesia — A version of the show had been aired on the TPI (Indonesia) channel, with the name Benteng Takeshi, (translated as Takeshi's Fortress) keeping much of the show's original elements (names were not changed and such).
Few years later, a short-lived local adaptation was created adopting several core concepts from the original.
[edit] Iran
Iran — It was shown by the name Masir-e Talaa'ee (Persian: مسیر طلایی) (when translated it means "Golden Path"), on the Iran's Channel 3 since 2009.
[edit] Italy
Italy— Renamed Mai dire Banzai (Never Say: Banzai!) it first aired in 1989 on Italia 1. A reedited version interspersed with clips of another Japanese gameshow called Za Gaman, it was given a comedic voiceover by Gialappa's Band, who changed Kitano's and Saburo Ishikura's names to Gennaro Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi, historically Swiss Italian judges in Games Without Frontiers. Gialappa's Band described the games and tasks as traditional Japanese past times and thus rather mundane by Japanese standards, introducing a veil of non sequitur to the show which is lacking in English language versions. As of 2008, the UK shortened version is broadcast on GXT and the voiceover is done by Italian comedians Trio Medusa (previously the show was commentated on by Marco Marzocca with Stefano Sarcinelli and still before by duo Lillo & Greg).
[edit] Lithuania
Lithuania — The show was aired by the name "Takeši pilis", featuring Fumito (a Japanese person living in Lithuania at the time), who dubbed the show in a comic way with his broken Lithuanian. The show was very popular.
[edit] Malaysia
Malaysia — The Japanese version was aired over NTV7 in early 2000s, although edited to be shortened to half an hour. The broadcast was added with Malay overdub commentary (the original Japanese audio track is still audible in background). Sometimes in earlier versions, the unoverdubbed parts will be subtitled in Malay.
[edit] Netherlands
Netherlands — The show was aired on August 15, 2009 on the Dutch Comedy Central. Each episode lasts half an hour and Dutch voice-over is provided by sports commentator Ronald van Dam and actor/comedian Ruben van der Meer. The episodes are a copy from the British version. Like the British version it has the replays at the end of each challenge.
[edit] Philippines
| Takeshi's Castle | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy Reality |
| Created by | Tokyo Broadcasting System |
| Starring | Joey De Leon Ryan Yllana |
| Country of origin |  Philippines |
| Language(s) | Tagalog, English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Wilma Galvante |
| Running time | 30 minutes (1 hour in IBC and SBN broadcasts) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | IBC Q GMA Network |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| Original run | October 1990 (IBC) - October 2007 – April 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Just Joking |
| Followed by | Da Big Show |
Philippines - It was first shown on the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation TV network in October 1990 as a Tagalog-dubbed show. Later episodes contained interludes shot on a studio with actors Anjo Yllana as Takeshi and Smokey Manoloto as "Iwakura" providing the commentary with a gravelly Japanese accent, which was later dropped in favor of their natural voices. The Filipino production crew also developed on their relationship, with Iwakura often trying to trick Takeshi on several occasions. One episode which resulted in the contestants' victory was even written as Takeshi's worst nightmare; when Iwakura finally wakes him up, Takeshi is so traumatized that he asks to call off a scheduled taping. While the show was not as popular as in other countries, it held a huge following among Filipino viewers to the point that makers of the local chocolate drink brand Ovaltine created an in-show mini contest as part of a product endorsement deal in 1991. In this version, the names given to most of the challenges are translated from their original Japanese such as "Devil's Maze" for the Honeycomb and Square Mazes, "Flying Mushroom" for Mushroom Trip, and "Sumo Wrestling" for Sumo Rings.
The IBC episodes of Takeshi's Castle were later rerun on SBN during 1993 and 1994. The show was not edited as before at IBC, Q and now in GMA Network.
Takeshi's Castle is currently enjoying a revival in the Philippines. This time around, comedians Joey de Leon and Ryan Yllana (Anjo's younger brother) provide the commentary as fictional characters shogun Shintaro "Taru" Gokoyami who is Takeshi's right hand man and sumo wrestler Kakawate Takehome, the leader of the Takeshi Gundan, fictional in the sense that there are no such characters in the original cast. Initially, the two provide play-by-play commentary, but they as well as some added characters reduced themselves to skits and commentary in between clips of the show. Later, as part of QTV 11's first anniversary, Anjo finally appeared alongside the new cast, reprising his role as "prince" Takeshi.
But, due to Takeshi's Castle's competitive ratings, the management of GMA (which produces shows for its sister network Q) decided to move the show from its original station in an evening slot, now to the early afternoon weekend slot of GMA. Takeshi's Castle is aired on a weekly basis as opposed to the weekdays airing on Q, and is aired before Eat Bulaga on Saturdays and before SOP on Sundays. This is done to increase and improve the ratings of the succeeding shows. Takeshi's Castle started to air on GMA on December 23, 2006 with same hosts. The show aired on its last episode on May 9, 2007, and after a long break of TV experience, Joey and Ryan assumed new personalities as Master GT (later Tirso Potter) and Captain B respectively. It was temporarily replaced by "Just Joking" which starred also Joey De Leon and Ryan Yllana and other casts. On August 15, 2007, "Takeshi's Castle" returned on air once again with all new episodes and Mike "Pekto" Nacua (Cookie), John Feir (Belli) and Love Anover (replacement when either Cookie or Belli was not in) become commentators. The show is now airing at Saturdays 11:30 a.m. before "Eat Bulaga", and Sundays 11:15 a.m. before SOP Rules. And only regional networks a Visayan-dubbed show now on GMA Cebu & Davao from Saturdays & Sundays in the Morning by Cebuano version from title called Takeshi's Castle Wala Gyud sa Isaysay Banzai! (Never Say Banzai!).
Over simulcast worldwide at GMA Pinoy TV.
[edit] Portugal
Portugal — A version called Nunca Digas Banzai (Portuguese for "Never Say Banzai") aired in station SIC, where it reached some popularity. Voiceovers were provided by two hosts, José Carlos Malato and João Carlos Vaz. Takeshi and Ishikura were renamed "Fujimoto" and "Fujicarro" (a play on the Portuguese words for "[motor]bike" and "car" respectively using the Japanese word Fuji), and the Portuguese hosts made no attempt to interpret the reality of the show, instead using the contestants as surrogates for the satirical comments about Portuguese public figures, in a similar style to MXC.
[edit] Spain
Spain — The program aired in the '90s as Humor Amarillo (when translated it means "Yellow Humour") on TV channel Telecinco. Comedians Juan Herrera and Miguel Ángel Coll (son of the popular José Luis Coll) commented on the images; this version of the show has achieved cult status and there are some fansites and web petitions for reruns. In fact, the Spanish version created some terms now familiar to either Takeshi's Castle or Humor Amarillo, like "El Laberinto del Chinotauro" (literally The Chinesetaur Labyrinth, name for any of the maze challenges), "Las Zamburguesas" (for Skipping Stones),"Gacela Thompson" ("Thompson Gazella"), a pathetic businessman character, and "Chino Cudeiro", the name assigned to a random player that always "dies", one of the most popular characters in Spain. Since January 28, 2006, the show has been dubbed again by Fernando Costilla and Paco Bravo and can be seen on Spanish TV channel Cuatro TV. They showed every one of the original Japanese episodes, with the last one being shown on June 9, 2007, ending with a special message by the Spanish commentators.
[edit] Taiwan
Taiwan — A gameshow called 100 Wars, 100 Victories (Chinese: 百戰百勝) was formed from the original show, similar to how MXC Almost Live was formed.
[edit] Thailand
Thailand — Takeshi's Castle was dubbed and shown on Channel 5 in the late 1990s. The title was changed to "Hod, Mun, Ha" (โหด มัน ฮา), or "Cruel, Thrilling, Fun."
In 2007, the unedited original series with bilingual soundtrack (Thai & Japanese) is aired on X-ZYTE channel on TrueVisions cable TV every Sunday and rerun several times through out a week.
[edit] United Kingdom
| Takeshi's Castle | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy |
| Created by | Tokyo Broadcasting System |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (inc. comms) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Challenge |
| Picture format | 576i SDTV |
| Original run | 9 November, 2002 – 1 January, 2004 |
United Kingdom — This condensed version of the original series became an unexpected hit when it premiered on Challenge on 9 November 2002, regularly dominating the top ten programmes on the channel each week.
The format does not follow the original Japanese format, instead following General Tani's (re-named General Lee) troops trying to storm Takeshi's Castle. Each episode is commentated by Craig Charles, parodying the events. A typical episode would have about eight games followed by the Final Showdown. After each event, a 'Ridiculous Replay' would be shown, highlighting the most entertaining attempt. Challenge decided to edit out the comedy sketches between Takeshi and Higashi to allow more games to be shown during the half hour block.
More series were commissioned and shown over the next few months, culminating in a series of hour long specials in the Autumn of 2003, and a special highlights show, The A-Z of Takeshi's Castle, broadcast on January 1, 2004 which showed some of the best clips of the best games. Though no new episodes have been made since then (due to all the Japanese episodes having now been shown) repeats still air regularly on Challenge including an eight-episode block feature broadcast on Sundays, with an average of 130,000 viewers an episode.
On 3 September, 2005, MXC aired for the first time on UK television between 9 and 10 p.m. on Challenge.
The UK TV series returned to Challenge after a hiatus on September 7, 2009, with a modified opening sequence.
On 9 May 2007 The Paul O'Grady Show had their own mini Takeshi's Castle challenge, including 'Knock Knock', 'Bite the Bun', a "Bridge Ball" adaptation called 'Balancing Act' and the 'Slippery Wall'.
Now you can see it at 9am to 10pm weekdays on virgin 1.
[edit] United States
| MXC | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy |
| Starring | Victor Wilson Christopher Darga John Cervenka Mary Scheer |
| Opening theme | "Firebrand" by Bumblefoot |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 81 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | ~25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Spike |
| Picture format | 480i |
| Original run | April 13, 2003 – February 9, 2007 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
In America, Takeshi's Castle aired as MXC (subtitled Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on Spike TV, providing both dubbing and commentary in English that effectively spoofs the original show.
Three attempts have been made to Americanize the format:
- On July 28, 1990 FOX aired a special half-hour version of the original show premise entitled King Of The Mountain. This version used the same games, but had only 10 competitors and no costumed characters to impede the players' progress. This American attempt only taped two episodes on July 24, 1988, and only one aired.
- On June 16, 1993 CBS aired the second attempt, entitled Storm the Castle. This hour-long version, which was packaged by Vin Di Bona Productions and hosted by Michael Burger, pitted 30 families against each other and against well-known monsters (such as Beetlejuice) in a quest to win $15,000. Unlike Mountain, Storm had a few exclusive games not seen anywhere else. Storm, like Mountain, only lasted a single episode. The show was notable as future NFL player Christian Fauria appeared with his family.
- In 2008, ABC premiered the series Wipeout. The show airs during the summer, and is one of the season's most popular shows on TV. While not a direct adaptation of the show, it does bear a very similar resemblance to both the original Takeshi's Castle and MXC, as well as Japanese game show Sasuke. Contestants must pass through a series of ridiculous games without being eliminated, and complete the final event to win a cash prize of $50,000. John Henson and John Anderson provide humorous commentary as the contestants try to pass the events. Creator Matt Kunitz claims the series Fear Factor is the greatest inspiration to the show. Despite these claims, Japanese network Tokyo Broadcasting System, the owner of Takeshi's Castle and North American co-owner of MXC, still filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against ABC in 2008. TBS claimed that the show is "a blatant copycat" of their shows, and that the network bought Google search terms, including "MXC", to drive traffic to their site. Wipeout continues to air new episodes and receive high viewership.
[edit] South Africa
Broadcast daily on Animax with original British dubbing
[edit] References
- ^ "Cool Japan: Why Japanese remakes are so popular on American TV, and where we’re getting it wrong".AsianWeek. Retrieved on 2008-09-15.
[edit] External links
- Takeshi's Castle
- UK Websites (Alphabetical order)
- Storm the Castle (Alphabetical order)
- MXC (Alphabetical order)
- #1 MXC Fan Club on the Net
- Get It On: MXC Fansite
- MXC at the Internet Movie Database
- MXC at TV.com
- MySpace.com MXC Fansite
- SpikeTV.com MXC website
- Humor Amarillo (Alphabetical order)
- Videos of Humor Amarillo (Spanish)
- Japanese Websites (Alphabetical order)
Coordinates: 35°34′06″N 139°29′02″E / 35.56833°N 139.48389°E
